Stanton and Tazzyman team up for new title

Egmont is set to publish a collection of new stories by author Andy Stanton this spring, illustrated by David Tazzyman.

Set in the world of Mr Gum, the character created by Stanton and Tazzyman in You're a Bad Man, Mr Gum! (also published by Egmont), Natboff! One Million Years of Stupidity will introduce readers to characters such as Natboff the caveman, Strange Mildred the witch and a talking grape called Plover.

Liz Bankes, commissioning editor at Egmont, said: “We’re proud of our reputation for publishing outstanding funny fiction, so we couldn’t be more thrilled to publish this new book from Andy, the king of comedy. Natboff! has been making us laugh on a daily basis for a while now, so it’s only fair that we share it with the world.”

Egmont acquired world rights in a two-book deal from Eve White at the Eve White Literary Agency and will publish in paperback in May.

The publisher has also signed an audiobook deal with BBC Worldwide for the Mr Gum series. BBC Worldwide will reissue first three books, narrated by Stanton and originally published by AudioGO, and will release books four to eight for the fist time, produced by Pozzitive Productions, and again read by Stanton.